In 2023, Beth Ryzyk retired from her role as Co-Team Coordinator and Lexi Dunne (Klimaszewski) stepped into this role under Susan Sulich’s guidance. Lexi did five OYMT trips as a youth including our Alaska trip before transitioning into Young Adult Leader and Adult Leader roles. In 2025, Susan and Fr. Luke also retired from full-time leadership, but both remain active advisors for the team. Lexi is in her third year as Team Coordinator and Fr. Mircea Geana of Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Springfield, Vermont has taken on the role of Spiritual Director/Team Priest for OYMT.
We look forward to the next 15 years!
Fr. Luke Mihaly, Susan Sulich, Beth Ryzyk, and five Orthodox teenagers participated in New Fairfield Congregational Church's 2011 ASP trip.
Overall, the group worked on four homes, taking on a variety of projects to help families in need make their homes "warmer, safer, and drier," which is ASP's slogan. Susan and Beth gained invaluable experience and training from the group's coordinator, Liz Yoho, that would serve as the springboard for their 13 years as Co-Team Coordinators of the Orthodox Youth Mission Team.
July 7-15, 2012
Our team was led by Fr. Luke Mihaly along with 4 other adult leaders. Eleven teenagers participated from the parishes of Holy Trinity Danbury, CT, St. John's Mill Hill Avenue, Bridgeport, CT, Holy Trinity Yonkers, NY, St. Barbara's Orange, CT and St. Alexis in Clinton, CT.
The first project was installing vinyl siding, reframing an outside wall, and creating a drainage ditch for an elderly woman who lives alone. The second project was installing a new outside wall, including framing, insulating, sheathing and siding for an elderly couple. The third project was flooring, replacing a bathroom, and repairing a roof leak for a Korean War veteran who also lives alone.
After a long week of hard work, the team was rewarded with a visit to Hershey Park. On the way home, they also attended Divine Liturgy and received a very warm welcome at Church of the Holy Ascension in Frackville, PA and visited the Holy Protection Monastery in White Haven, PA.
July 6-14, 2013
Our team was led by Fr. Luke Mihaly along with 5 other adult leaders. Fourteen teenagers participated from the parishes of Holy Trinity Danbury, CT, St. John's Mill Hill Avenue, Bridgeport, CT, Holy Trinity Yonkers, NY, and St. Barbara's Orange, CT.
The first project was putting on a tin roof and installing a new window for a couple with health issues. The second project was removing carpet, replacing subfloor, insulating, tiling, and repairing front and back doors, for an elderly woman. The third project included indoor/outdoor work: painting, flooring and drywall; installing porch and deck handrails for a family with 3 children.
After a long week of hard work, the team was rewarded with a visit to Hershey Park. On the way home, they also attended Divine Liturgy and received a very warm welcome at Church of the Holy Ascension in Frackville, PA.
July 19-27, 2014
Our team was led by Fr. Luke Mihaly along with Father David Cochran of St. John’s in Bridgeport, CT. They were joined by 7 other adult leaders and 19 teenagers from the parishes of Holy Trinity Danbury, CT, St. John's Mill Hill Avenue, Bridgeport, CT, Holy Trinity Yonkers, NY, St. John’s Stratford, CT, St. Alexis, Clinton, CT, and St. Barbara's Orange, CT.
We worked on 4 homes doing a variety of exterior and interior work including painting, flooring, drywall, building a handicap ramp and deck, siding, deck handrails, and trim work.
After a long week of hard work, the team was rewarded with a visit to Hershey Park. On the way down we attended Divine Liturgy at St. Mary’s in Bluefield, WV with Fr. Mark Tyson and on the way home we joined the parish at St. Michael’s in St. Clair, PA with Fr. Jeff Zias.
July 11-18, 2015
Our team was led by Fr. Luke Mihaly along with Fr. David Cochran of St. John’s in Bridgeport, CT and Father Michael Chendorain of St. John’s in Perth Amboy, NJ. They were joined by 11 other adult leaders and 23 teenagers from the parishes of Holy Trinity Danbury, CT, St. John's Mill Hill Avenue, Bridgeport, CT, Holy Trinity Yonkers, NY, St. John’s Stratford, CT, St. Alexis, Clinton, CT, St. Barbara's Orange, CT and St. John’s, Perth Amboy, NJ.
We worked on 4 homes doing a variety of exterior and interior work including painting, flooring, drywall, building stairs and deck, siding, deck handrails, and trim work.
After a long week of hard work, the team was rewarded with a visit to Hershey Park. On the way down we attended Divine Liturgy at St. Mary’s in Bluefield, WV with Fr. Mark Tyson and on the way home we joined Fr. Jim Jadick’s parish at Holy Ascension in Frackville, PA.
July 9-17, 2016
Our team was led by Fr. Luke Mihaly along with 9 other adult leaders and 24 teenagers from the parishes of Holy Trinity Danbury, CT, St. John's Mill Hill Avenue, Bridgeport, CT, Holy Trinity Yonkers, NY, St. John’s Stratford, CT, St. Alexis, Clinton, CT, St. Barbara Orange, CT and St. John’s, Perth Amboy, NJ.
We worked on 5 homes doing a variety of exterior and interior work including painting, flooring, drywall, building stairs and deck, porch repair, siding, deck handrails, and trim work.
After a long week of hard work, the team was rewarded with a visit to Hershey Park. On the way down we attended Divine Liturgy at St. Nicholas Antiochian Church in Beckley, WV and on the way home we joined Fr. Jeff Zais and his parish, St. Michael’s in St. Clair, PA.
July 7-18, 2017
On July 7, 2017 the Orthodox Youth Mission team started our Orthodox Christian Mission Center trip to Alaska with 24 hours of traveling by bus, plane, car and skiff to the village of Napaskiak.
For the next 10 days, our team, led by Father Luke Mihaly, along with 5 other adult leaders and 19 teenagers from the parishes of Holy Trinity Danbury, CT, St. Barbara Orange, CT, St. John's Mill Hill Avenue, Bridgeport, CT, Holy Trinity Yonkers, NY and St. John’s Stratford, CT, served in the village by helping run a Vacation Church School and Youth Conference, and also in the neighboring village of Oscarville by clearing the land and building the foundation for their new church. Two of our leaders and two of our youth also traveled to the village of Eek where they helped install a cupola on the church there.
We were welcomed into the community and the parish of St. James. We worshipped together and were gifted with the most amazing hospitality, being invited to feasts in several homes where we ate salmon, walrus, moose, orca and many other delicious and new foods.
July 7-15, 2018
In 2018, the Orthodox Youth Mission Team took a giant leap. We opened up our team to parishes beyond our local area and ended up filling an entire ASP volunteer center for the first time!
Our team of 59 youth and adult leaders was led by Father Luke Mihaly and Fr. Andrew Fetchina from St. John the Baptist in Rahway, NJ. Participants were from parishes in CT, NY, NJ, AL, GA and MD - 11 parishes in total from 3 jurisdictions (ACROD, GOARCH, and OCA).
We were also very happy to have Pres. Renee Ritsi, Teams Associate Director & Healthcare Coordinator from the Orthodox Christian Mission Center, join us again after guiding us in Napaskiak in 2017.
Our team assisted 7 families. Porches and ramps were built, walls and ceilings painted, bathrooms and floors installed, drainage ditches dug and other work done - all with the goal of making homes "warmer, safer and drier," which is ASP's mission.
After a long week of hard work, the team was rewarded with a visit to Hershey Park. On the way down we celebrated Divine Liturgy with Fr. Nick Galanopoulos and the parishioners at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Roanoke, VA and on the way home we joined Fr. Jeff Zais and his parish, St. Michael’s in St. Clair, PA.
July 6-14, 2019
Our team of 75 youth and adult leaders filled an entire ASP volunteer center and was comprised of members from CT, NY, AL, MD, CA, FL, KY and TX - 11 parishes in total from 3 jurisdictions (ACROD, GOARCH, and OCA).
The team was led by Fr. Luke Mihaly. We were blessed to have Fr. Nicholas Hadzellis accompany his team from St. Demetrios in Fort Worth, TX and also to have a visit from Fr. Demtrios Andrews, Executive Director of Project Mexico.
Our team assisted 8 families. Porches were built, underpinning and insulation added, walls and ceilings painted, bathrooms and floors installed, drainage ditches dug and other work done - all with the goal of making homes "warmer, safer and drier," which is ASP's mission.
After a week of hard work, the team enjoyed some fun and fellowship Graves
Mountain Lodge in Virginia. On the way down we celebrated Divine Liturgy at the parish of Christ the Savior with Fr. Stephen Mathewes, and his parishioners and on the way home we joined the parish of St. Catherine’s Orthodox Church in Hagerstown, MD with Fr. Gregory Safchuk who filled in for Fr. Dennis Buck.
OYMT also trained two other parishes from NJ and NC who participated in a separate ASP trip earlier in July. In total, about 100 Orthodox Christians served with OYMT this summer.
July 9-17, 2022
Our team of 49 youth and adult leaders filled an entire ASP volunteer center and was comprised of members from CT, NY and MD - 6 parishes in total from 3 jurisdictions (ACROD, GOARCH, and OCA). Center sizes were reduced this year due to COVID-19 precautions. The team was led by Fr. Luke Mihaly.
Our team helped 7 families make their homes "warmer, safer, and drier" by taking on porch construction, siding, underpinning, insulation, sheetrock, painting, flooring, and sub flooring projects.
In our travels to our volunteer center, we were blessed to visit the parish of St. Mary’s with Fr. Andrew Wythe, in Morgantown, WV for Vespers and Divine Liturgy. We shared time with Kenny Kidd, then-Executive Director of FOCUS, for discussion about cultural perspectives of working in Appalachia.
July 8-16, 2023
Our group of 55 youth and adult leaders filled an entire ASP volunteer center and was comprised of members from six ACROD, GOARCH, and OCA parishes in CT, NY, and MD. The team was led by Fr. Luke Mihaly.
Our team helped 7 families make their homes "warmer, safer and drier" by taking on roofing, siding, insulation, framing, sheetrock, painting, sub flooring, flooring, and deck construction projects.
In our travels, we were blessed to visit Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Roanoke, VA, and St. Michael's in St. Clair, PA. The team was also rewarded with a visit to Hershey Park on the way home.
More important than the construction work was t
July 20-28, 2024
Our team of 63 youth and adult leaders filled an entire ASP volunteer center and was comprised of members from seven ACROD, GOARCH, Antiochian, and OCA parishes in CT, PA, VT, and GA.
Fr. Luke Mihaly was joined by Fr. Mircea Geana of Holy Trinity in Springfield, VT.
Our team helped nine families make their homes “warmer, safer, and drier” by taking on roofing, siding, sheetrock, painting, sub flooring, flooring, and deck construction projects.
In our travels, we were blessed to once again visit St. Nicholas Antiochian Church in Beckley, WV, and enjoy a second visit with St. Catherine’s Eastern Orthodox Church in Hagerstown, MD. The team was also rewarded with a visit to ACE Adventure Waterpark in West Virginia.
Additionally, an Orthodox team from MD that OYMT previously trained and served with participated in a separate ASP trip this summer.
June 28 - July 6, 2025
Our team of 60 youth and adult leaders filled an entire ASP volunteer center and was comprised of members from eleven ACROD, OCA, GOARCH, Antiochian, and Romanian parishes in CT, NY, NJ, VT, PA, NC, and NM.
Fr. Luke Mihaly was joined by Fr. Mircea Geana of Holy Trinity in Springfield, VT, and Fr. Volodymyr Zablotskyy of Holy Trinity in Yonkers, NY (both OCA).
OYMT helped eight families make their homes “warmer, safer, and drier” by taking on projects such as roofing, siding, sheetrock, painting, subflooring, flooring, underpinning, and ramp construction.
In our travels, we were blessed to once again visit Christ the Savior Greek Orthodox Church in Bluff City, TN (GOARCH), and to enjoy a third visit with St. Catherine Eastern Orthodox Church in Hagerstown, MD (OCA). The team was also rewarded with a visit to ACE Adventure Waterpark in WV, and enjoyed celebrating 4th of July in downtown Harlan, KY during the trip.
Additionally, two Orthodox teams OYMT previously trained and served with, one from MD and one from GA, each participated in their own separate ASP trips this summer.